Giving robots and prosthetics a new sense: Touch
Robots are becoming more humanlike with the development of hairy skin.
© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner)
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© Massachusetts Institute of Technology (A Britannica Publishing Partner)A look at experimental robotic fingers, controlled from a glove, that enhance the hand's grasping motion and enable the wearer to perform with one hand many tasks that ordinarily require both hands.
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© 2026 Thomson ReutersOne robot ran a sub-9 second 100-meter dash in a 2026 competition—and promptly crashed into a padded wall.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail © Norman Chan/Dreamstime.com; © Sarah Holmlund/Dreamstime.comThe development of robot suits that aid the elderly and disabled.
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Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, MainzLearn how human hair grows.
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Transcript
SPEAKER 1: Robots just keep getting smarter and more human-like like every day, and now, scientists are working to add yet another feature to robots to mimic us even more closely, hair. Fine hairs cover 95% of the human body and help us feel the slightest pressure on our skins, such as that from a light breeze.
To endow robots and prosthetics with that level of sensitivity, researchers have combined hair-like wires with electronic skin to make a new sensor. Their report appears in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
Ronghua Wang, Li Feng How, and colleagues at the Harbin institute of technology in China created an array of artificial hairs using pressure sensitive magnetic microwires made from glass coated, cobalt based fibers. The team embedded the ends of the wires in a silicon rubber skin. The hairy skin could repeatedly detect a range of pressures, including the landing of a fly, a light wind, and a 10 pound weight.
Here you see a robot gripper equipped with a new sensor feeling the slight forces exerted on it by a tissue. This level of sensitivity means that a robot holding something could feel it slipping from its grasp and grab on a little tighter, an ability that could enable future robots or prosthetics to handle delicate tasks currently out of their reach.
To endow robots and prosthetics with that level of sensitivity, researchers have combined hair-like wires with electronic skin to make a new sensor. Their report appears in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.
Ronghua Wang, Li Feng How, and colleagues at the Harbin institute of technology in China created an array of artificial hairs using pressure sensitive magnetic microwires made from glass coated, cobalt based fibers. The team embedded the ends of the wires in a silicon rubber skin. The hairy skin could repeatedly detect a range of pressures, including the landing of a fly, a light wind, and a 10 pound weight.
Here you see a robot gripper equipped with a new sensor feeling the slight forces exerted on it by a tissue. This level of sensitivity means that a robot holding something could feel it slipping from its grasp and grab on a little tighter, an ability that could enable future robots or prosthetics to handle delicate tasks currently out of their reach.
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